News Release

Nov. 8, 2006

Boise State Education Professors Bring Attention to 'The Kids Left Behind' Through New Book

A new book by William Parrett and Robert Barr of Boise State University is designed to help educators reach impoverished children and help them achieve at the highest levels. “The Kids Left Behind: Catching Up the Underachieving Children of Poverty,” published by Solution Tree, is the latest in a series of books by Barr and Parrett that tackle issues of underperformance and inequality in education.

As the research in “The Kids Left Behind” states, conventional wisdom has held that schools can’t make a big difference in the achievement of minority and low-income students. These students are left with little help to close the gaps between them and their higher-performing fellow students. “The Kids Left Behind” provides proven, real-life examples of high-performing schools where traditionally underachieving children are catching up and succeeding.

“The Kids Left Behind” is the first book to bring those examples together and provide methods for improvement. Barr and Parrett outline eight intervention strategies that have helped other schools, including ensuring effective leadership at the top, engaging parents and communities, holding high expectations for students, and more. Through interactive features such as self-evaluation rubrics, readers can rate the effectiveness of their school districts and begin to modify their methods for better effectiveness. The authors’ methods are practical strategies that can be used from the school district level to the classroom.

Kati Haycock, executive director of the Education Trust in Washington, D.C., and the author of the book’s forward, writes, “In one volume, they’ve looked across all of the many studies and distilled the major findings in a highly readable fashion.”

Parrett is the director of the Center for School Improvement and Policy Studies at Boise State; he also is a professor in the College of Education. Barr is an emeritus senior analyst for the Center and the former dean of the College of Education at Oregon State University. Both Barr and Parrett are recognized internationally for their work in school improvement.

“The Kids Left Behind” is available at www.solution-tree.com and through the Boise State Bookstore.

“The Kids Left Behind: Catching Up the Underachieving Children of Poverty.”
ISBN: 1-932127-90-9
Solution Tree, $29.95


-30-

Contact: William Parrett, College of Education, (208) 426-4343, wparret@boisestate.edu
Media Contact: Julie Hahn, University Communications, (208) 426-5540, juliehahn@boisestate.edu 

Where you see blue, we see the largest institution of higher education in Idaho. For the ninth time in the last 10 years, Boise State University has set an all‑time state record with a fall enrollment of 18,876 students. Since 1996, Boise State’s student population has increased 25 percent.
 

The Office of Communications and Marketing - Boise State University
1910 University Drive - Boise Idaho 83725-1030
Located in Capitol Village, 2225 W. University Drive

208-426-1577
(fax)208-426-4001

email communications@boisestate.edu

Last reviewed on Wednesday, January 03, 2007